Liquid agitator



March 31, 1970 G. R. TAYLOR, SR, ET L 3,503,5

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United States Patent ()fice 3,503,592 LIQUID AGITATOR George R. Taylor, Sr., and Urey B. Taylor, 3125 Poplar, Kansas City, Mo. 64128 Filed Sept. 18, 1968, Ser. No. 760,509 Int Cl. B01f 11/00, 13/08 US. Cl. 25991 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for agitating liquid in a container including a frame provided with a track comprising a pair of spaced, parallel rails. A carriage is reciprocated along the rails by an eccentric driven by an electric motor. A container is carried in upright position on the carriage, and a ferromagnetic slug within the container is attracted toward the bottom of the container by a magnet mounted on the carriage beneath the container. Reciprocation at a speed which causes limited relative movement between the magnet and slug results in agitation of the settleable constituent of the liquid.

This invention relates to agitators for liquid and, more particularly, to apparatus for mixing the settleable constituent of fingernail polish, paint or the like with the balance of the liquid.

Many liquids of the type mentioned above, and particularly fingernail polish, now include as a constituent substances which produce a metallic or luminescent sheen when the polish has been applied. The substances provided for this purpose have a tendency to settle to the bottom of the container. It is extremely difficult and has sometimes been virtually impossible for the user of the liquid to thoroughly mix these substance prior to application of the material.

Various means have heretofore been suggested to overcome this problem. Some distributors include steel balls immersed in the liquid within the container so that the user can utilize the balls by shaking the container to enhance the stirring of the liquid. While of some help, the balls have a tendency to move upwardly in the liquid during the shaking process and an inordinate length of time is required for stirring the liquid.

It has been suggested heretofore that magnetic means might be utilized to cooperate with steel balls in a container for holding the latter in a fixed position while the container is moved relative thereto. This produces, at least theoretically, relative movement between the steel balls and the container for agitating the liquid. Conversely, other have suggested that the container might be held in a fixed position while the magnet is moved relative thereto.

None of the foregoing attempts to solve these problems associated with agitating liquid of this type have been entirely succesful. It is, therefore, one of the primary objects of this invention to provide apparatus capable of effectively and efficiently scouring the settleable constituent from the bottom of containers of this type and mixing the constituent uniformly through the liquid.

In the achievement of the foregoing, it is an object of the invention to provide apparatus utilizing magnetic means in conjunction with reciprocation of the container so that ferromagnetic slugs within the container are attracted at all times toward the bottom of the container while inertia produced by the reciprocating movement produces limited relative movement of the lugs within the container to agitate the material.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus capable of accommodating a wide range of container shapes.

Patented Mar. 31, 1970 It is still another object of the invention to provide apparatus which may be quickly and easily used by the housewife, beauty operator or the like, and which quickly and efficiently stirs liquid in the nature of highly viscous fingernail polish with the requirement of expenditure of little effort on the part of the user.

These and other objects will be further explained or will become apparent from the specification, claims and drawing.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is an end elevational view of apparatus embodying the principles of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1, parts being broken away to reveal details of construction;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, top plan view illustrating the carriage of the apparatus; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a modified form of a ferromagnetic slug which may be used with the apparatus.

Agitator apparatus embodying the principles of this invention is broadly designated by the reference numeral 10 and includes a frame or base 12 having a pair of parallel, oppositely directed, transversely U-shaped channel members 14 secured thereto to provide a track for a shiftable carriage 16. A prime mover in the nature of an electric motor 18 is mounted on platform 12 by an upstanding bracket 20. An eccentric 22 is rotated by motor 18 and is coupled to carriage 16 by an elongated pitman 24.

Carriage 16 includes a floor 26 and upstanding sidewalls 28. One of the walls 28 is hinged along its upright corner by hinge means 30 to provide an openable door for the carriage. Bolt and lock means 32 releasably hold the door in its closed position when the apparatus is in use. To this end, a tension spring 34 operably secured between the bolt 36 and the door prevent inadvertent opening of the latter during operation.

Four wheel and axle asemblies 38 are carried by carriage 16 to upport the latter on the track defined by rails 14 as illustrated in the drawing. The configuration of the U-shaped rails 14 restrict movement of carriage 16 to a rectilinear path of travel. Further, the pivotal coupling between carriage 16 and pitman 24, and operation of the latter by eccentric 22, produces a reciprocating motion along the path of travel when motor 18 is operated.

An arcuate backing member 40 is rigidly secured to the interior of carriage 16 as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, and a yieldable pad 42 of plastic or like material is secured to member 40. Another arcuate member 44 and pad 46 are carried from the opposite sidewall of carriage 16 on the projecting end of a compression spring 48. A container such as a bottle 50 may be supported on floor 26 and secured against relative movement with respect to the carriage by the clamping action of the pads 42 and 46 which embrace the outer surface of the container. It will be noted that the configuration and yieldable nature of the material from which pads 42 and 46 are constructed, permit the embracing of a container irrespective of its external configuration. Further, the spring 48 insures that a wide variety of sizes of containers may be accommodated by the apparatus.

A permanent magnet 52 is rigidly secured to the bottom of carriage 16 directly below a plurality of apertures or perforations 54 in floor 26. The perforations permit the lines of force from magnet 52 to travel through floor 26 so that the magnet may attract objects such as steel balls 56 which are placed in the container 50 prior to operation.

A housing 58 may be provided in covering relationship to the remaining components of the apparatus and suitable support structure such as suction cups 60 are secured to platform 12 to support the latter and to hold the apparatus against movement irrespective of the vigorous shaking which is imparted to the container 50.

In operation, the energization of motor 18 by switch 62 produces the reciprocation of carriage 16 along its track. This reciprocating movement results in limited shifting of the object or objects 56 in the container from their initial positions. Such shifting occurs as a result of the abrupt change in direction of movement of the container wherein the inertia of the objects 56 tend to dislodge the latter from initial positions. However, the magnet moves with the carriage and the objects are attracted toward the bottom of the container at all times. This combination of force toward the bottom of the container, together with the limited movement of the objects in the settleable constituent (indicated by the reference numeral 64 in FIG. 2) tends to dislodge the latter from its homogeneous mass. The reciprocation of the container 50 causes the particles of settleable material to be thoroughly admixed with the balance of the liquid in the container a soon as they are dislodged from the mass.

It has been found that the length of the path of travel for carriage 16 should advantageously be at least two inches. This stroke produces the forces of inertia which are necessary to dislodge the steel balls from their fixed positions and which permits the mounting of the magnet directly on the carriage so that the objects are attracted down into the homogeneous mass of settleable constituent at all times.

Further, the speed of operation of motor 18 is important. A speed of approximately 200 to 300 r.p.m. is optimum. A substantially greater speed causes too much movement of the objects 56 for maximum scouring action. Conversely, a speed substantially below 200 r.p.m. does not produce sufficient inertial forces to provide the limited relative movement between the objects and the magnet which is required for agitating the settleable constituent.

The use of steel balls or BBs has been found to be quite satisfactory as the ferromagnetic objects which are inserted into container 50 prior to operation of apparatus 10. On the other hand, it has been found that elongated, ferromagnetic cylinders 66 which may be shaped as illustrated in FIG. 4, also produce desirable results. In the final analysis, the optimum shape for the ferromagnetic objects will be determined by the particular material to be stirred or agitated. For particularly diflicult materia s, the relatively sharp, annular edge presented by the object 66 has a tendency to dig the materials from their packed positions. At the same time, the round surface permits the rolling desirable for enhancing the limited relative movement between the object and the magnet. For less difficult materials, the spherical BBs work satisfactorily. The number of metallic objects required for each container will depend, of course, upon the particular material and also upon the size of the container.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for agitating the settleable constituent of liquid in a container comprising:

means supporting the container for movement along a rectilinear path of travel;

at least one ferromagnetic object in the container;

a magnet disposed outside of the container and carried by said supporting means in position to magnetically attract said object toward said settleable constituent; and

prime mover means operably coupled with said upporting means for reciprocating the latter along said path of travel at sufficient speed to produce limited relative movement between the object and said magnet whereby said object agitates said liquid.

2. The invention of claim 1, wherein said supporting means includes a carriage, an elongated track, and wheel means supporting the carriage and engaging the track to restrict the movement of the carriage to a rectilinear path of travel.

3. The invention of claim 2, wherein said magnet is secured to the carriage for movement therewith.

4. The invention of claim 3, wherein said carriage includes a box having a floor and an upright sidewall, and resilient means secured to the sidewall and adapted to engage said container supported on the floor to hold the latter in a predetermined position within the container, said magnet being secured to the carriage beneath the floor.

5. The invention of claim 4, wherein said floor is perforate, thereby enhancing the force of attraction of said magnet on said object.

6. The invention of claim 3, wherein said prime mover includes an electric motor, eccentric means operated by said motor, and means operably coupling the eccentric means to said carriage to reciprocate the latter along said track.

7. The invention of claim 1, wherein said object is a steel ball.

8. The invention of claim 1, wherein said object is a steel cylinder.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,520,556 8/1950 Massey 2599l X 2,793,010 5/1957 Menken 259-91 3,310,292 3/1967 Moore 2599l 3,360,253 12/1967 Genzo 2599l ROBERT W. JENKINS, Primary Examiner 

